Ronnie Biggs had a violent thirst for money

Ronnie Biggs, a member of the notorious gang that committed the Great Train Robbery 50 years ago, has died at the age of 84. Some are portraying him as a heroic villain who grabbed the equivalent of more than £40 million in today’s money from the Glasgow to Euston mail train, and who escaped from prison to live a life on the run in exotic locations.

In reality, of course, he was a criminal. The assault on the mail train was not some sophisticated heist in the style of The Thomas Crown Affair but a brutal, thuggish assault that left a lasting impact on the men attacked. “I’m totally involved in vast greed, I’m afraid,” Biggs later admitted. So were all of the Robin Hood heroes of the Sixties: men with undoubted charm that hid a violent thirst for money and a perverse delight in infamy.